Creativity & Growth In Creativity

Hi Everybody! I Came across this video today and thought I have to share it. It speaks to creativity and the learning curves we go through. I hope you watch it!  I posted my completed "Winter" season journal page earlier today & full post with photo collage of progress and other things if you would like to see it click here when you are done with the video. But here is just one photograph in case you don't have time.

Ira Glass on Storytelling from David Shiyang Liu on Vimeo.

Ira does say years, Years, YEARS!  Do a volume of work, huge amounts of work! So go create something! Fight your way through! Thanks for those words of wisdom and encouragement Ira Glass!

I can so relate to this, sometimes struggling, sometimes hard on myself, aching to grow creatively to produce quality work. I am going to fight my way through! Now going to create! Sketch, Draw, Paint and repeat! Paint, photograph, Paint, Photograph repeat!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend ahead! Linking up with Paint Party Friday come check it out if you like!  Leave a comment so I can visit you back! Follow along if you like! But, be sure and be creative!

How do you work through your creative obstacles?

Journal Page "Winter" from Seasons Series

How this week is flying by! I hope this is finding you well.I did a photo collage & another shot of my "Winter" page completed.

 Winter from the journal page series "Seasons"

She is my favorite so far, I just finished spring & am going to be *editing video of painting that journal page.  Kelly asked, "winter already?" But, no! I want fall as long as possible. I am only doing a series of girls for the seasons then back to journaling & painting other things. I am sure those things may have some fall inspiration, as it is my favorite season!

When I get a chance I will upload a larger version so you can look close up at the detailing. It will be posted to my Flickr account. Link is on the side bar to follow along if you like.

On another note:
Part of why I haven't been around I just had gotten back up hard drive & hadn't finished moving files..... when I lost a majority of my files to a computer hiccup! Two years of photography & art! Can you see me crying!? Any how, the Mr. found a program & reset the computer a few days prior to that to recover images. But things seem to still be missing! I am devastated, but still hoping to recover more!
Photography Storage Tips: 
Never keep your work just on one hard drive! Always back up! & if you use Flickr or some other hosting site add in your edited work as soon as you are done & hold private until needed! Take my advice & don't chance losing your work!

Tomorrow I have an award ceremony at Sammie's school & I will probably add this post to Paint Party Friday, but I might not be able to visit until the weekend. Just let me know you dropped by and I will return the visit! If you want to link up something you made with PPF just look in the resources page and then go pop it in their linky on Friday morning! There is lots of creativity going on with PPF! PS I have some new art quilt blocks to share soon too! 

What have you been painting, journaling or working on lately? 

Do you have a photography storage tip to share? (obviously I could use more!)

Autumn Color Inspiration

 Theresa Huse

Autumn has finally arrived? We still are having days in the 90* but the evening air as the sun goes down is crisp. The things I love about autumn are the colors nature gives us! Vibrant yellows, oranges, reds, green and browns that you can find about nature. Sunflowers, pumpkins, leaves from the trees....You can hear the wind blowing more often and see the dancing of the leaves.

 Theresa Huse 

Our nights and mornings are filled with fog in the area we live and as we round into October we will see the season change, often times I have to stop with my camera and capture the beauty of nature given to us in the autumn months. If you would like to see my autumn journal pages just visit here. 

 Pinterest

I will be looking for fall as I take walks and enjoy the changing season. I hope to capture more photographs to share with you soon. & if you are interested you can visit me at DearCreatives.com where I have been sharing lots of creative, crafty fall inspiration & even links to crafty fall projects! If you have something to share you can visit and link up in our weekly Feature Friday posts!

What are your favorite fall colors?

Beginnings of Winter Journal Page

I took out my journal and was thinking of how I just made my Autumn girl * (you can see her in the previous post if you missed her) and how maybe I should do a girl for each of the seasons. And so the story begins.

I knew I wanted winter to be a girl who was pale like snow, with jet black hair and ruby red lips.

I had this wonderful scrapbook paper that had deer, birds, trees and snow. I added it to give the page interest and dimension. I wrapped it around my girl like winter wraps snow around nature in winter.

I wanted the sky to be blue with snow and maybe have the appearance of rain falling. This was the beginning concepts for my winter pages.

I love how sometimes things just flow better when you sit down on a different days and on different weeks. I can't wait to share with you the finished pages. Here she is with a few layers and sorry the image was taken at night so its not the clearest, but when I post the pages done I will take the photographs in day light.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend ahead! We've been having our typical late CA. summer, which as me indoors under a fan and trying to paint more! If you like to visit other artists and see what they created this week this post is linked up with Paint Party Friday and the link is in resources. See you soon!

Did you get any creative projects done this past week? What is your favorite season? 

Autumn Journal Page

Hello friends & creatives! I am getting back into a little bit of a routine here and trying to paint a bit more. I created this page first by just sketching the outline of the face. I meant to take some work in progress photos but didn't. I will have some on the next journal page, but I did take a few different shots of this one to share with you.

There are many things about Autumn I love. The late afternoon breeze bringing the fog in, the leaves blowing, the changing colors and the clouds in the sky.

 

I layered pressed dried leaves and dictionary pages around my pages

I made sure to give lots of detailing to her face and lips. Some bold, some subtle

Wonky camera angle but wanted to show a face close up

I wanted my page to have the feel of Autumn winds blowing and  beautiful colors ~

Sorry I have not been on a regular posting routine. I could explain all the details but don't want to bore you. I will have more journal art and more to share with you soon. I hope you are enjoying the beginnings of Autumn.

What is your favorite part of Autumn? What have you been working on journals, art, photography? Let me know, I'd love to see! 

Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns. George Elliot

Journal Pages

Hello fellow creatives. I am trying to journal again daily, as I have been doing other things and hadn't made that a priority lately. What a difference it has made almost like taking steps backwards. I pushed through this page and yesterdays feeling pretty frustrated. I must of done her face about five times.

This evening I worked on some pages that I think were feeling less forced and more at ease for me mentally if that makes sense. I guess what I am trying to say is it flowed better and  the results ended up much better too. I'll be sharing those pages later.

Although she has a party hat on she isn't altogether a happy gal. I wouldn't be either if I had to get made over five times!  lol Oh, well it has been one of those weeks I am glad it is almost over and ready for the weekend! So I am making a wish for a good weekend and better week ahead! And am wishing you the same! Happy Paint Party Friday!

If you want to visit other creative folks drawing, painting and creating just visit the link for Paint Party Friday in the resource page here and join in with everyone if you like.

Morphing My Journal Page

Days seem to be flying by. I don't know where time is going. Do you ever feel that way? I been re evaluating my time and where it is spent. I created a journal page that took the complexity and detours from my daily life and let it out on the page. Big "me" topics are time management, focus & simplifying.  I actually used chalk board paint and chalk ink for this journal page. My journal page morphed several times.

But, then like my daily mindset and routine right now it felt so complicated. I want to simplify, focus, change to make things more productive. And of course compare less! How many times a day do you come across some great artwork, artist, illustrator and just think wow and then you feel like your work is not good enough?

I have been all over the place in my work and thoughts. Focusing on other things yet in my heart I know I want to reshape things to be more clear for myself. Which in of itself can be complicated! Almost like a puzzle.

Sometimes the page can handle the complexity of life more than you can. Let it feel your frustration, pain and take you away from it when you let go.

But the reality of life is you need Focus! 

 

And that is up to ones self 

  Full Journal Page Completed

In life it seems so easy to over complicate, carry burdens and feel mixed up about what direction to go in artisically. For me, right now I know I need to simplify, focus and there is no perfect time like now! Maybe you have heard it before from me or even said it to yourself and even attempted to simplify and focus. I don't know about you, but for me it sure isn't coming easy!

So today I am sharing my unedited, morphed many times page with you as I still look for these things within and for myself. I don't know that I am happy with the outcome of this page, but I do know I feel so much better after creating it. 

Do you ever feel like you need more focus? What is one way that you create more focus or simplicity in your life or for your art?

Artist Quotes:

"The further I go, the sorrier I am about how little I know: It is this that bothers me the most," Claude Monet

"It may be that the deep necessity of art is the examination of self- deception." Robert Motherwell

"Artistic temperament sometimes seems a battleground, a dark angel of destruction, and a bright angel of creativity wrestling." Madeleine L Engle